Batter's Box Interactive Magazine

It has been a slow start to the season for Riley Adams. But he went deep twice in Buffalo's first game yesterday. Nate Pearson was up and down in the second game. Dunedin produced a well played game, good pitching from Sem Robberse and plenty of hits. New Hampshire lost even though Jordan Groshans homered. Vancouver also took the L.

Syracuse 4 Buffalo 5 - game 1, 8 innings

Syracuse 6 Buffalo 3 - game 2

Binghamton 11 New Hampshire 4

Eugene 10 Vancouver 5

Bradenton 2 Dunedin 12

This is what I noted from yesterday's games.

Dilson Herrera singled in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning in game one. Riley Adams went deep twice and walked, driving in three runs.

Jacob Waguespack started game one but was charged with four runs in four innings. Tayler Saucedo pitched two perfect innings in relief with four K's.

Nate Pearson started game two. The first inning was routine, three up, three down. The second went as follows: walk, K, double, home run, K, walk, HBP, K. It was a 36 pitch inning. The third inning was back to three up, three down. Pearson struck out the side in the fourth with 16 pitches. The fifth started with a hit and another hit batter. Pearson was pulled but both runners scored giving Pearson five runs allowed on the day. So three innings good, two innings bad for Nate. Tyler White drove in two of the Bisons three runs with two hits.

Zach Logue has been good this season but he took the loss here by giving up three runs in 4.1 innings. The bullpen, which has been a weak spot for New Hampshire this season, coughed up the remaining eight runs.

Jordan Groshans went 2-4 including his second home run of the season. Samad Taylor also had two hits, one a double. LJ Talley was 1-2 with two walks. Austin Martin and Gabriel Moreno were hitless.

It was a poor pitching night as three hurlers who had been good so far this season took it on the chin. Nick Fraze, Brandon Eisert and Sam Ryan each allowed multiple runs.

Sebastian Espino led the offense with two hits, including a home run, his first. Phil Clarke had two hits but his batting average is still just .187. It has been a disappointing start to the season for Clarke.

Sem Robberse had his best start of the season. He threw four innings, no runs, with seven strikeouts.

The Jays scored their twelve runs on nine hits and nine walks. Seven hitters each had one hit, Mac Mueller was the only hitter with two. He drove in three runs. PK Morris homered for the second night in a row, his fourth.

Three Stars

Third Star - Mac Mueller

Second Star - Sem Robberse

First Star - Riley Adams

Boxes

Posted by Gerry on Saturday, June 05 2021 @ 08:33 AM EDT.

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John Northey - Saturday, June 05 2021 @ 10:41 AM EDT (#399333) #

Adams doing well is a good sign. Whenever Kirk returns (last note I see on MLBTR has a month from May 7th as the earliest) McGuire could be lost and if so then Adams becomes the #3 catcher. In 17 games he has hit 222/377/537 (his brief callup to the majors was before the minor league season began). His last 10 games he hit 357/526/750 (after a horrid 077/194/308 start over 7 games).

Between Adams (AAA 25) and Gabriel Moreno (368/437/579 in AA age 21) the future behind the plate is bright. Zach Britton in A ball (Dunedin) is hitting 224/425/408 at age 22. Not bad, but at 22 at that level not wow. Philip Clarke in A+ age 23 isn't doing as well (187/337/213) to put it mildly. But 2 top prospects and a maybe isn't bad at all (especially vs the past when often minor league catching was maybes and lots of nah).

Given Jansen is at a 41 OPS+, McGuire 55 and dropping Kirk can't heal fast enough imo.

krose - Saturday, June 05 2021 @ 01:39 PM EDT (#399344) #

John, I wonder if McGuire might have pulled even with Jansen in terms of value now and going forward. Does Jansen have an option?

scottt - Saturday, June 05 2021 @ 01:48 PM EDT (#399345) #

Jansen still has 2 options, but there is no point sending him down.
To have some value, you need one competitive team to be interested.

Mike Green - Saturday, June 05 2021 @ 02:48 PM EDT (#399349) #

Adams is hitting .222/.377/.537. Channeling Gene Tenace, but no longer in a slow start.

At this point, the club ought to be looking for a way to convert some of their major league and high minors catching

talent to serve other needs.

scottt - Saturday, June 05 2021 @ 03:36 PM EDT (#399351) #

Moreno seems to be the future, but not this year.
McGuire doesn't have much value, since he already cleared waivers.
Kirk would be the backup of the future and Adams has another 2 years of options.
So, it seems like Jansen is the guy to trade and I'm not sure he would bring much back.

krose - Saturday, June 05 2021 @ 04:03 PM EDT (#399356) #

Both McGuire and Jansen appear to be good defensive catchers who can�t hit very well. In the short term would it be worth giving Graterol a chance? Kirk will likely take that spot when he is able, but in the interim maybe Gaterol could provide more than almost nil. Option Jansen and get him to concentrate on bat to ball skills.

greenfrog - Saturday, June 05 2021 @ 10:22 PM EDT (#399368) #

Moreno/Kirk has the potential to be a very fine catching duo for years to come, starting in 2022 (if not earlier).

After all the failed attempts over the years at developing an above-average starting catcher, the Jays might want to go slow on trading away their catching prospects. That is, unless a team is willing to significantly overpay for one of the prospects (likely Kirk, since the Jays aren�t going to move Moreno, and none of the other young catchers is likely to have a lot of market value).

greenfrog - Sunday, June 06 2021 @ 10:16 AM EDT (#399378) #

In 2022, would it be feasible to carry Moreno (starting catcher), Kirk (second catcher and occasional DH and pinch hitter) and McGuire (backup catcher) on the roster?

Not sure if this would be the best use of roster space, but in a perfect world it would be useful to have all three players on the team. Having all three players would provide versatility, depth, and a nice balance of offensive production and defensive strength.

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